People now self-censor offline behavior out of fear of online audiences

Evidence

Recent research has begun to turn to this dour fact that a team of British researchers describes as the “extended chilling effect.” The idea here is that people—especially, though not exclusively, young people—now censor and curate their real-world behavior in consideration of their own online networks as well as the larger prospect of the internet masses. The researchers conclude that participation in social media “is profoundly intertwined with the knowledge that information about our offline activities may be communicated online, and that the thought of displeasing ‘imagined audiences’ alters our ‘real-life’ behavior.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1505

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces and defines the ‘extended chilling effect’ as a named phenomenon.
• SEED: Article angle: how the extended chilling effect quietly retrains embodied habits and social norms, not just speech.
• XREF: connects to: Living publicly online normalizes constant scrutiny of one’s actions — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 382; Ongoing audience surveillance generates anxiety in online performers — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 511; Location broadcasting creates fear of missing out among those not invited. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 594 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Networked audiences enable public enforcement of social norms #expands (0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 575